Thermoforming advantages

At least 30wt% percent of all extruded products are thermoformed. They have many advantages over other manufacturing methods. For the mass production of products (packaging, picnic dishes, cups, etc.) sheets and films can be produced in-line with... 

The small cell size only has limited effects on properties, but can have advantages for further processing. If foamed sheet is to be thermoformed, it must have a cell diameter much less than the sheet thickness to avoid failure. 

Packaging applications are the most extensive. Meat, poultry, and egg containers arc thermoformed from extruded foamed polystyrene sheet. The fast-food market also accounts for a substantial amount of polystyrene for takeout containers where the insulation value of a foamed container is an advantage. Containers, tubs, and trays formed from extruded impact polystyrene sheets are used for packaging a large variety of food. Biaxially oriented polystyrene film is thermoformed into blister packs, meat trays, container lids, and cookie, candy, pastiy, and other food packages where clarity is required. 

Different processes take advantage in applying orientation to gain certain properties in certain products. Major product lines include stretched blow molded bottles/containers (Chapter 6), thermoformed oriented containers (used for such products as fruits, vegetables, and baked goods) (Chapter 7), tapes, etc. 

There is a largely untapped opportunity for wood-plastic composites [10] in packaging and material handling. This is evident from the fact there are nearly 600 million pallets made each year in North America and only about 50 million are plastic. One Canadian manufacturer, Dura-Skid, produces pallets by assembling lineals made from wood-filled HDPE. The main advantage of wood-plastic composites to the pallet manufacturer is the excellent stiffness to weight ratio afforded by wood filler. The greatest opportunity may be in structural foam and twin-sheet thermoformed pallets. 

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